Fireproof floor construction



' 1,582,173' Apnl 27, 1926. T. J. FOSTER FIREPROOF FLOOR CONSTRUCTIONFiled Sept. 21, 1923 Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STA THOMAS J. FOSTER, OF RIDGEWOOD, JERSEY.

' FIREPROOF FLOOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed September 21, 1923. Serial No. 663,948.

To all whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, THOMAS J. Fos'rnn, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of Ridgewood, Bergen County,State of New Jersey, have made a certain new and useful InventionRelating to Fireproof Floor Constructions, of which the following is aspecification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, whichforms part of the same. 7

'1 This invention relates especially to fireproof floor constructions inwhich special fireproof floor supports such as long strips of reenforcedand stiffened plaster board or the like areused upon the steel or otherfloor beams so as to support the concrete or cement or other hardeningplastic constituting the body of the floor (hereinafter referred toindiscriminately as concrete or cement) without in many cases requiringany additional centering or othersupports between the beams. Floorsupports for this purpose may be stiffened or reenforced plaster boardor other relatively thin and preferably substantially fireproofcomposite board which may be made up with suitable wire or otherreenforcement embedded therein or secured thereto so as to support theseveral foot spans of setting concrete between the beams. In many casesthe concrete stiffening or reenforcing elements may be secured to orincorporated with these floor supports so that long strips of theseplaster board or other supports of the proper-width to correspond to thebeam spacing and extend across one or more of the spans between thebeams, may be readily put in place and the cement floor poured over thesame with a minimum of trouble and expense. In many cases the concretefloor may be finished by applying a yielding tread composition such as alayer of linoleum or cork carpet secured to the concrete floor by asuitable plastic binder or cement, or a proper thickness layer of suchcork or other yielding tread composition may be applied in plasticcondition and united to the concrete floor where additional cushioningis desired.

.In the accompanying drawing showing in a somewhat diagrammatic mannervarious illustrative embodiments of this invention:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section of an illustrative constructionFi 2 shows the way the floor support may Ive applied to the beams .Fig.3 is an enlarged view oft-hefloor supportv and stiifener or reenforcingmembers, and

form of floor construction of ,this type.

The floor beams '8 which may be of any desired size and construction maybe spaced apart at suitable uniform intervals as is usual, see Fig. 2.It is advantageous to apply to these beams which may, of course, be twoor three feet more or less between centers,' combined ceiling and floorsupport strips or sheets of non-combustible or fireproof material suchas plaster board, sheet rock, or other still more fireproof asbestosboard mineral compositions which may ad vantageously be made up or cutinto strips of such width as to extend between the centers of adjacentbeams, for example. Such strips 7 may be ten feetor more in length Fig.4 is a sectional view showing another in some cases so as to cover theentire panel between two or more beams and it is of decided advantage toincorporate in or secure to such relatively thin light plaster board orother floor supports suflicient reenforcing or stiffening members suchas wire strips or rods so that no independent centering or intermediatesupports are required in many cases below these floor supports, whilethecement floor isbeing laid and setting. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, forinstance,

the floor support 7i which may be threeeighths to one-half inch thickmore or less may have incorporated therein woven wire or other metalreenforcement 6 which prevents or minimizes breakage besidesstrengthening the floor support; and additional reenforcing stiffeningstrips or rods which may extend around these stiffening rods andinterposed cement or plaster board spacers 10, so as to strengthen thefloor supports sufiiciently so that they can support the concrete floor3 which may be two or three inches more or less of Portland cementconcrete poured upon or applied to the floor supports. VVhere soundcushioning action is particularly desirable the concrete may be made upwith this in mind and as much as forty per cent of cinders may be incorporated therein or considerable quantities of spongy. or aeratedfurnace slag or smaller quantities such as ten per cent or less ofsawdust or the like. It is also desirable in some cases to have a layerof paper 5 formed on the floor supports, this paper cushioning orcovering layer being preferably water proofed as by incorporating orapplying Waxy or tarry material thereto. of course, additional wovenwire or other reenforcement may be applied to the floor sup ports so asto be embedded in the concrete floor and woven wire may, for instance,be.

- chines which may form the tie-wires around these stiffening elements.In this case it is desirable to have the lower reenforcing wire 6relatively light while the upper reenforcing wire 14 is considerablyheavier so as to be more effective when embedded in the concrete floor.This multiple wire fabric may be woven or made up in suitable widthscorresponding to the length of the reenforcing strips 12 and may then beincorporated in the plaster board or other floor support strips 7 ofsimilar wid th'by forcing the lower reenforcing wire 16 into the softplaster board composition which may be more or less smoothed over abovethe wire before setting takes place. The upper concrete reenforcing wire14 is thus united to the plaster board and these floor supports maybeapplied to the steel or other beams so that a strip covers one or moreof the panels and is preferably strong enough to support the concretefloor which when poured readily and thoroughly unites with the heavyreenforcing wire 14 which may be used so that in many cases no otherfloor reenforcement is needed, this reenforcement being preferablyadjacent the lower part of the floor such as 13, which may he finishedin any desired way. Fig. 1 shows an illustrative tread surface for thispurpose whi h may comprise a layer 1 of su table floor covering such aslinoleum', cork carpet. etc. which may be adhesively united to. therement floor 3 as by the layer 2 of shellac or other adhesive cementwhich, together with the floor covering, gives increased cushioning andsound insulating properties to the construction. 1

This invention has been described in conn ti n w th. a n m er f illu tati e If desired,

bodiments, forms, proportions, sizes, parts and methods of connectionand use, to the details of which disclosure the invention is not ofcourse to be limited since what is claimed as new and what is desired tobe secured by Letters Patent is set forth in the ap ended claims.

n the claims the word beams is used to describe rolled or fabricatedbeams or joists, either made in one piece or built up of several pieces,such as are commonly used for floors for dwellings, apartments andoffice buildings; and the word flange is used to designate the top orbottom chord member or members thereof.

I claim the following as my invention:

1. The fireproof fioor construction comprising steel beams spaced atsubstantially uniform distances apart, strip fireproof plaster boardfioor supports extending between and supporteddirectly on said beams andadapted to form the ceiling surface, wire mesh reenforcement in saidfloor supports, transverse metallic stiffening strips united to theupper surface of the floor supports and woven wire reenforcementextending above said stiffening strips and united thereto, a

concrete floor formed upon said floor supports and having saidstiffening rods and upper reenforcement embedded therein and acushioning floor covering above said concret-e fioor.

2. The fireproof floor construct-ion compris' ing steel beams spaced atsubstantially uniform distances apart, strip fireproof board floorsupports extending between said beams, reenforcement in said floorsupports, transverse metallic stiffening strips united to their uppersurface and woven wire reenforcement extending above said stiffeningstrips and united thereto, and a concrete floor formed upon said floorsupports and having said stiffening rods and upper reenforcementembedded therein. 1

3. The substantially fireproof and sound proof floor constructioncomprising meta-l beams, floor supports of non-combustible cementitiousmaterial covering and insulating the upper flanges of said beams andsup- .ported thereby, said floor 'supports being poor conductors ofsound, and a continuousfloor of noncombustible quick settingcementitious material adhesively secured to said floor supports andforming a ground for a layer of sound deadening material adapted to beadhesively secured thereto to form. a self-sustaining. monolithic floorhaving sound deadening properties on both faces.

4. The substantially fireproof and sound proof floor constructioncomprising metal beams, continuous fioor supports of noncombustiblecementitious material covering the u per flanges of said beams andsupported there y, said floor supports being faced with ma e al a a p rond ct rs of ound,

and a continuous floor of non-combustible quick setting cem'entitiousmaterial adhesively secured to said floor supports and forming a groundfor a layer of sound deadening material adapted to be adhesively securedthereto to form a self'sustaining monolithic floor having continuoussound deadening properties on both faces,

5; The substantially fireproof and sound proof floor constructioncomprising steel beams spread at 'substantially'uniform distances apart,floor supports of plaster board or similar insulating material extendingover'and between said beams, metal ties extendlng above said plasterboard, a continuous concrete floor formed uponfisaid floor supports andhaving said ties embedded therein, and a sound insulating compositionfloor adhesively attached .to the concrete whereby the latter isinsulated on both faces. 6. The substantiallyfireproof and sound prooffloor construction comprising steel Jeams spread at substantiallyuniform distances apart, floor supports of plaster board or similarinsulating material extending over and between said beams, a continuousconcrete floor formed upon said floor supports, and-Ia sound insulatingcomposition floor adhesively attached to the concrete whereby the latteris insulated on both faces.

THOMAS J. FOSTER.

